Sealed engine container



Oct. 27, 1942. A E, KUEPPERS 2,300,259

SEALED ENGINE CONTAINER Filed April 6, 1940 TTU-LP' Patented Oct. 27,1942 SEALED CONTAINER Albert E. Kueppers, Paterson, N. J., assignor toWright Aeronautical Corporation, a. corporation of New York ApplicationApril 6, 1940, Serial No. 328,332

(Cl. 20G-46) 7 Claims.

This invention relates to shipping containers and particularly to ametallic packing case for machine assemblies such as radial cylinderaircraft engines. Previous practice in packing and shipping engines ofthe above mentioned type has consisted in securing the engine upon amounting plate which in turn is bolted to a wooden table forming part ofthe bottom of a Wooden packing case, the edges of the case bottom havingattachment points for the case top which is dropped over the engine andis firmly secured to the case bottom. Thereafter, handling of the casemust be eiected by rope slings or special vehicular equipment. Since theengine is approximately 50 inches in diameter and anywhere from'60 to'l0 inches long, it is apparent that a rectangular wooden packing caseto accommodate it is a very bulky object measuring generally, about ft.to 6 ft. square and 6 to 7 ft. high. Since the engines are shipped Ibyrail or boat, the case must be very sturdy and accordingly is fabricatedwith great care and of high grade materials, and a further requirementis that when engines are shipped in these cases by boat, the case mustbe completely lined with waterproof material and the engine itself mustbe well covered with an anti-rust compound. By changes in temperature ofthe atmosphere, there is a certain amount of breathing of air into andout of the case, tending to increase the moisture content therein which,unless proper protection is given to the parts, obviously will causecorrosion and rust. The Wooden packing cases above described must be ofsuch sturdy construction that they Weigh a great deal-of the order of1,000 pounds or more.

Itis an object of this invention to provide a metallic packing casesuitable for aircraft engines which may be tted more closely to theoutline of the engine thus to occupy conside.'- ably less bulk and alsoto provide a metal casing which may be hermetically sealed to prohibitthe entrance of moistureand to avoid the necessity for the previouslynecessary anti-rusting preparation.

Another object is to provide a metallic engine container which isrelatively light in weight but structurally of suicient strength tosafelyl carry the engine without danger of damage to the more or lessdelicate parts thereof when the packed engine is given' a normal,somewhat rough, handling common to transferring cargoes to and fromships and rail equipment.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a sealed, leak-proofEcontainer which is floatable on Water with the engine packed therein. Acase of this character may be floated ashore from ships instead ofhandled by rigging and lighters, which at times may be a greatconvenience.

It is appreciated that in the past steel drums have been used ascontainers for liquids and semi-solid compounds, fbut it is believedthat the use of steel drums of the character hereinafter nested forcompact shipping with an engine therein; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section through a portion of the containershowing an alternative means for securing the container parts to oneanother.

A typical radial cylinder engine is shown in dotted lines at I0, and aconventional mounting provision for -the engine comprises a plurality ofbosses II circmnferentially arranged around the principal axis of theengine. These bosses serve as a means for mounting the engine upon anaircraft and also serve as a means for mounting the engine upon amounting member or plate I2 provided, as shown in Fig. 2, with a centralcutout through which the rear section I3 of the engine may be passed andwith lugs I4 registering with the bosses II so that the lugs and bossesmay Abe secured by bolts I5. The member I2 is preferably of circularform concentric with the engine axis, and is of a diameter somewhatgreater than the diameter of the engine, the periphery of the platehaving a plurality of bolt holes, as shown.

The packing container per se comprises a central section I6 of drum formwith flanges I9 at each end, and endA sections Il and I8 of cup formwhich have flanges 20 and 2| at their open ends, the diameter of theseveral sections I6, I1, and I8 being suilicient to embrace the engineand of a dia-meter equal tothe diameter of the plate I2. When the engineis to be packed, the bottom cup section I'I is placed on its end on thefloor, the plate I2 is disposed on the open end clamp the flanges I9 and20 securely against the gaskets and mounting plate. Now, if the enginehas considerable overhang from the mounting plate, a steadying bushing28 may be placed over the engine propeller shaft and a guide plate 29slipped over the bushing, said plate, having al periphery similar to theplate I2 so that it rests upon the upper flange of the plate IB.Thereafter, the member I8 is assembled, as shown, and is bolted at itsflanges to the upper flange of the drum I6 so that the plate 29 is rmlysecured. It will be obvious that the engine is rigidly supported withinthe drum and that the drum is a unitary structure which may be readilyhandled by conventional slings or other handling equipment. Tofacilitate drum handling, the end sections II and I8 may be providedwith lifting eyes 3I to receive hooks of lifting equipment. For localhandling, the drum may readily be rolled upon its flanges without thenecessity of special truck equipment which has heretofore beennecessary, and the drum may be upended for unpacking by a simple hoistwhich will subsequently be used to lift the engine out of the case whenthe case has been opened.

It is obvious that when assembled, the drum comprises a leak-proof,hermetically sealed, container. Preliminary designs of the drumcontemplate the use of 1%" or 1/4 boiler plate or the like which willgive adequate strength to the assembly without excessive weight, theweight of the drum suitable for the conventional engine being of theorder of 900 pounds which is less than the weight of material necessaryfor the conventional wooden rectangular case. In the drawing, thethickness of material forming the drum is exaggerated.

As a further convenience, in shipping the containers empty, Icontemplate making the drum section I6 of full diameter with the endsections Il and I8- of suiciently smaller external/diameter so that theywill sleeve into the drum section in the manner shown in Fig. 3, so thatthe cubical content of an empty drum, ready for shipment, is onlyone-third as great as the cubical content of the container when theengine is packed therein. The end sections I'I and I8 may havecylindrical sides, as shown, or alternately may be of conical shape sothat they nest one within the other.

For a drum of the size contemplated, namely, about 60 inches indiameter, it is apparent that, With 1%" or 1/4 material, a great numberof securing bolts 25 would have to be used in order to hermetically sealthe flanges. The large plurality of bolts may be readily secured orremoved by the use of power driven speed wrenches which are nowcommercially available but if desired, an alterriate means of securingthe flanges may be utilized after the manner of Fig. 4 which eliminatesnearly all of the flange bolts. In Fig. 4, the case sections I6 and I8'correspond to the sections I 6 and I8 of Fig. 1, and the mounting plate29 is placed between bulb anges 34 and 35 of the case sections. Anannular inturned split channel member 36 is snapped around the drumflanges and is of such width as to force the flanges 34 and 35 firmlyagainst the edge of the plate 29 and the Agaskets which would be usedbetween the flanges and plate, the annulus being readily assembled byprogressively beating it over the flanges with a. mallet or the like.When the annulus fully embraces the flanges, it may be given additionalsecurity against inadvertent displacement by one or more through bolts31 which pass through appropriate holes drilled through the annulusflanges, through the drum flanges, and through the mounting plate.Preferably, about four or five such bolts would be used, one adjacenteach end of the split' annulus 34, and two or three spaced around theperiphery of the drum to serve as locaters for the plate 29 and the drumsections against relative radial displacement. Alternate clamping meansfor the drum sections will be readily apparent to those skilled in theart, but it is be- @section I'I at the point where the lifting eye 3I islocated.

lieved that the two clamping means shown in Figs. 1 and 4 would be bothpractical and appropriate for an arrangement of this character.

As shown in Fig. 3, the smaller end section I9 of the packing case isprovided with a recess 38 to receive the reentrant portion of the drumIn engines which do not havegreat overhang from their mounting planes,the steadying bushing 28 and the plate 29 maybe redundant in which casethey may be omitted and the flanges of the drum sections I6 and I8secured directly to one another gfith only a single gasket therebetween.

It will be seen that a drum of the character shown may be tted much moreclosely to the external dimensions of an engine than the Woodenrectangular packing cases of prior practice so that the total volumeoccupied by the packed container will be substantially less than washeretofore necessary. This is a distinct advantage particularly in shiptransportation, since bulk is as much of a factor in determining freightrates as is weight-the usual ship ton is either 2,000 pounds or 40 cubicfeet, whichever is reached first, so that a saving of from 20% to 40% involume will afford a. corresponding saving in shipping cost.

As to flotation of a packed container, there is ample margin since thepacket weight of the engine will be approximately 3,000 pounds where thedisplacement of an equal volume of water would be of the order of 8,000pounds.

While I have described my invention in detail in its present preferredembodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, afterunderstanding my invention, that various changes and modifications maybe made therein without departing from the` spirit or scope thereof. Iaim in the appended claims to cover all such modications and changes.

I claim as my invention:

1. A metallic cylindrical drum container comprising cylindrical partssecurable at their edges to one another, whereby the drum when openedparts between its ends, a mounting plate to which a packed article issecured having a perforated peripheral portion engageable between theedges of said cylindrical parts, said cylindrical part edges comprisingperforate flanges, and bolts passing through the plate and angeperforations securing the flanges and mounting plate periphery together.

2. A metallic cylindrical drum container comprising cylindrical partssecurable at their edges to one another, whereby the drum when openedparts between its ends, a mounting plate to which a packed article issecured. having a peripheral portion engageable between the edges ofsaid cylindrical parts, said cylindrical part edges comprising annularflanges between which the mounting plate is disposed, and means to clampthe ilanges and plate against relative displacement comprising aplurality of bolts or the like passing through the anges and plate.

3. A metallic cylindrical drum container comprising cylindrical partssecurable at their edges to one another, whereby the drum when openedparts between its ends, a mounting plate to which a packed article issecured, having a peripheral portion engageable between the edges ofsaid cylindrical parts, said cylindrical part edges comprising annularflanges betweeny which the mounting plate is disposed, and a clamp bandembracing the flanges and securing them against relative displacement.

4. A metallic cylindrical drum container comprising cylindrical partssecurable at their edges to one another, whereby the drum when openedparts between its ends, a mounting plate to which a packed article issecured, having a peripheral portion engageable between the edges ofsaid cylindrical parts, and means wrapped around and secured to theedges of the cylindrical parts for holding the parts and the mountingplate together as a unitary assembly.

5. A packing case for a radial aircraft engine comprising acircularmounting member secured to the engine substantially concentrictherewith, a circular pilot member loosely engaging the concentric.power shaft at the front of the engine, a drum embracing the engine andengaging at its ends with said members, cup elements covering the frontand rear of the engine and engaging at their edges with respectivemembers, and means to secure said members, drum and elements to oneanother to comprise a unitary carrying case for said engine.

6. A packing case for radial aircraft engine comprising a circularmounting member secured to the engine substantially concentrictherewith, a circular pilot member loosely engaging the concentric powershaft at the front of the engine, a drum embracing the engine andengaging at its ends with said members, cup elements covering the frontand rear of the engine and engaging at .their edges with respectivemembers, and means to secure said members, drum and elements to oneanother to comprise a unitary carrying case for said engine, said cupsandl drum edges comprising flanges, and said securing meanscomprisingbolts engaging and clamp ing the flanges upon the members.

7. A packing case for a radial aircraft engine comprising a circularmounting member secured to the engine `substantially concentrictherewith, a circular pilot member loosely engaging the concentric powershaft at the front of the engine, a drum embracing the engine andengaging at its ends with said members. cup elements covering the frontand rear of the engine and engaging at their edges with respectivemembers, and means to secure said members, drum and elements to oneanother to comprise a unitary carrying case for said engine, said cupsand drum r edges comprising flanges, and said securing

